The Isle of Skye by Skye Jeppson (best value ebook reader .txt) 📕

The soldier, Ai'ken I remembered, was gentle but firm even when I tried to wriggle out of his grasp with a hopeless struggle to escape. In had no idea whatsoever why they were taking me to the king. I suspected they had mixed me up with some escape servant or something like that. I tried to talk to the soldier who held me onto the saddle even through yesterday's never stopping drizzle, he made sure that I stayed on even when I was so exhausted I slumped against him as there was no other way to possibly find a comfortable position in the shared saddle. He never replied to my questions except when I asked him when we would get there. He had replied in a smooth voice that carried an accent that indicated he was well learned,  " We will reach the castle in about two days time, and when we reach there you will be brought to the king for his investigation."  I didn't really want to think about what the king might think of me. It scared me enough that I would be brought before him though I didn't think much of him now that his soldiers had dragged my mother away and now me for that matter. 

Suddenly for what seemed like forever Ai'ken released his arm from my waist to dismount for a quick dinner and then we would rest for a bit before continuing. I could now see the castle rising up grandly from the craggy hills and lush green shrubbery and grasses and moss. The air smelled sweeter here and was thicker, and helped sooth my parched throat from the dusty trails we had followed. As Ai''ken helped me dismount I could feel the ache from the long ride even though I rode Blair every day. I noticed he was being carefully watched a few yards away by two soldiers. He had pretty much fought and worn them out the whole time and Ma'iri felt a satisfaction in his rebelliousness. 

She sat on the rock next to Ai'ken who seemed to be her personal guard now. He dished up some of the stew from the pot they had prepared and gave some to her along with a waterskin Made from thick stag hide. The water tasted slightly dusty and warm but she was so thirsty she drank it anyways. She looked to see that Ai'ken was peering at a hand written letter in fancy script that had lots of loops. She felt ashamed that she could only read little words and very slowly at that. Suddenly as if he felt her eyes on him, Ai'ken looked up at her and then said in a low voice so only she could hear, "Do you notice that you look like a hungry dog when you look at people like that without even blinking?" She hurriedly glanced away and why she blushed deep scarlet she didn't know because she never blushed even when she did something embarranging now and again. The man chuckled to himself quietly as he turned back to the letter and she tried not to look at him again. She noticed though out of the corner of her eye how handsome his face was and his strong hands even as they delicately held the paper. His dark features held a sort of authority and it was obvious he was in charge of the soldiers. She remembered how his blue eyes didn't even show any anger or contempt even when Blair had kicked out at him. 

Then remembering that she was his captive she shook her head in distaste and when she layed down on the woolen blanket he had given her, she wished that she was back at home watching the sheep graze lazily in the field and riding Blair through the tall trees of pine and that her mother was in the cottage cooking something that smelled like mutton and bread. Sighing she eventually drifted off into sleep. 

I woke again for what seemed like the thousanth time to my dark and damp cell. My head still hurt and so I sat up slowly with quite a bit of effort. As I leaned back against the wall I was suddenly startled as voice probed the darkness and said, "Are you all right?" Suddenly aware of another presence in the cell I scooted even closer to the wall and let out a little sound between a shriek and a whimper. A shape I could barely make out started scooting closer to where I sat. The stranger spoke again and this time I discerned a warm distinctly male voice as he said, "You've been out quite a while; so when I got thrown in here I could've sworn you were dead." He cleared his throat as his beautiful voice cracked from lack of water. Clearing my throat, I said, " No I'm not dead yet but my head hurts something awful, probably from loss of blood." Suddenly the stranger was right beside me and I could feel his arm touching mine. In a voice suddenly concerned he said, "Oh are you hurt? I did not relize in this darkness, was it your captors that hurt you?" Shifting my body and taking taking a deep breath of dank air, I said, "I did not give them what they wanted and so in effect they tortured me in their torture chamber to try to change my mind but..." I trail off painfully aware of the extruciating experience only how many days ago? I wouldn't know since I couldnt tell if it was night or day. The Stranger sat quietly for a while and then softly replied, "I'm sorry for your pain, they havn't tortured me yet, but I guess they wouldn't really need anything from a Mc'Adie since their already almost overpowering the whole clan by shortaging their food rations which doesn't help the Mc'cleods since they have a deal with them in exchange for food and so..." He stopped suddenly and trailed off. "I'm sorry now I'm just blabbering and your most likely uncomfortable talking to someone you don't even know; lets start over, I'm Dalzell from McAdie clan, and you are?" A little taken aback I reply, "I'm Si'leas from McLeod clan." Taking in some breath he says, " Your from McLeod clan? Were you taken in terms from your war?" Sighing I said,"Yes and now Si'oltach the man holding me and you captive won't let me go until I agree to sign a note for release of our entire stockhold to him." He draws in another sharp breath and says, "Wait a minute, the name Si'leas, your the princess? And your the one I was supposed to rescue?" He stands ubruptly in the dark, and I hear him walk to the other side of the cell. Confused I say, "Wait, you were here to rescue me?" Stunned I try to take it in, why would he rescue me? He's from another clan, in fact the very clan we made a treaty with before I was captured, he's not a part of this so why rescue me? He lets out another sigh and says, " Yes I was sent here with 3 other men to come and rescue the Mcleod's princess because we can't keep our end of the bargain with sending food for your people, and so to pay our shortage we agreed to rescue the captured princess, which I just now learned was you, and since me and my men were caught we did not succeed in rescuing you and for that I'm sorry." I hear him scoot to the floor from his position against the wall. I felt bad for him, it wasn't his fault he got captured or maybe it was but at least he tried. "It's not your fault, its the McAlaster's fault they should be apologizing not you, but we'll get out of here some how." I said not believing my own words. He let out a breathy laugh and said, " Ha, not trying to dash out your ray of hope, but I have a hard time believing that. The McAlaster dungeons are well guarded and kept in orderly fashion. They are most likely by far the most powerful clan right now." "Besides my companions who came with me were imediately killed and I doubt they would show us any less than that if we tryed to escape and were caught." Frowning I said, "Why did they kill your companions but not you as well? I don't see why they would show mercy to just one man and slaughter the others." For a fraction of a second I thought I saw him hesitate before he said, "Well I'm not exactly sure but it might be because they decided you needed a cell mate to torment you further and I was just the lucky guy for the job." He came back over and sat by me and leaned back against the wall. I would have loved to see what he looked like right then, because for all I know he could be a hairy man with no teeth and greasy hair, with a long beard to go with the image. But from what I could hear of his golden voice I couldn't imagine someone that hideous with a voice that flowed like liquid gold from his mouth.

It was silent as we pondered all we had learned and as we waited for the day we might find another soul to appear in our lives by simply opening the cell door and flooding it with the golden light of a candle wax stick.